Parent/Carer Forum

What does it look like to be a child at Margaret Wix?

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Parent Survey results October 2023

• Parent survey

At our parent consultations, we asked our parents and carers to fill out a survey about the school. As you can see above, this was overwhelmingly positive. This was completed by 100 of our 138 parents. 99 of these would recommend the school and 1 of the parents that responded did not know if they would recommend the school. We will not rest until 100% of our parents would recommend the school but we are extremely close and very happy with the results. Please do remember to communicate with our parent/carer forum if there are any changes you would like to see. Alternatively contact our staff. We are always happy to help.

The comments received were lovely. Here is a snapshot of some of these:

Every teacher seems to love what they do. They are inspirational!

Margaret Wix shapes each child in a holistic way. My daughter enjoys every bit of it.

Margaret Wix shapes a child into an individual who is empathetic; thinks out of the box; intelligent and a good citizen.

I love that it is a small school with diverse cultures. The staff are very supportive.

Teachers are very inspiring.

My son is very happy - academically and socially!

I love what you are doing!

My daughter is very happy to get educated at this school.

I wanted to say the biggest thank you for everything you do.

She loves coming to school, learning new things and playing with her friends.

My daughter feels safe, thanks to the nurturing environment the teachers promote. We have been really impressed with how much she has been learning in just a short amount of time.

She enjoys learning and seeing her friends.

A lovely school - thank you so much.

We love Margaret Wix!

Mrs Gibbs is a fantastic and friendly headteacher.

Thank you for the warm atmosphere!

I am very happy I chose Margaret Wix for my child.

My children have been welcomed to the school perfectly.

It's a pleasure to be at Margaret Wix!

Amazing school with amazing teachers!

The teachers and staff are amazing!

My daughter feels safe at school and loves her lessons.

We love the school parliament.

Well done Margaret Wix for all the hard work.

Margaret Wix is a very good school.

I would highly recommend it to other parents.

It is a very supportive environment.

It's such a lovely school. Both of my children have been really happy and have done well.

My child absolutely loves it and speaks very highly of it. Thank you for nurturing my son.

My son is progressing.

My child is thriving and happy. The school has done a lot for her personal developments.

Keep up the good work! I

I feel that the staff at Margaret Wix have gone above and beyond for my son. Moving him here was the best decision I have ever made.

I am delighted with the school.

I feel part of a whole community

As a parent, I think it is a lovely school to a part of. All the children get a chance to shine as we see every week in Celebration Assembly.

Parent Survey Results - March 2024

At parent/carer consultations this week, we asked parents to fill out a survey. Thanks to all those that did. We are delighted with the results. I couldn't be prouder of the way our community works together to create the best learning opportunities for our children. Remember, we are a listening school, so do pop in if there is anything we can help with. In the meantime, please have a look at the feedback:

Thank you for making learning fun and a great experience.

My son's attitude to learning has improved vastly - this is due to constant communication by his class teacher and additional help she has always offered in areas of difficulty.

My son is a very happy boy. He enjoys every moment at the school. Thank you.

Thank you for nurturing and making my son feel a part of this lovely community as well as teaching him the skills he needs for the next step.

You are all a big part of his development and we thank you very much.

Just to say how lovely this school is. The teachers are amazing - so approachable and willing to listen and help. They inspire the children!

This is my fourth child at this school and I have never had any problems. The staff are all so friendly and Mrs Gibbs is always so welcoming with a big smile which is warming to the children and parents.

Our son settled in straight away at Margaret Wix and is really coming into his own. We feel this is because of the incredible support and effort put into each child.

It is such a lovely environment.

My daughter has loved joining this school and is coming on in leaps and bounds with her learning.

Very happy! I know that she is at a really early stage, but developing starts from a very young age and I believe the school implements this through play, music and teaching.

The school is helping my child to be more resilient and to be confident and to be himself.

Lovely family atmosphere!

My daughter really loves the school and so do I!

Thank you to all the staff for supporting my children.

Well done to all the teachers and staff at the school.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

We absolutely love Margaret Wix and cannot praise staff enough. We have an extremely happy girl.

Could MW introduce Tapestry in KS1?

I just want to say the biggest thank you for your work. It is priceless.

I'm so happy that my child attends this school.

Thank you so much to all the staff and headteacher for your efforts.

Very happy with parent consultation evenings.

Happy with where my daughter is and what we need to work on.

Thank you to Miss Abbott and Mrs Gibbs for the change and the positive attitude to learning - you are all amazing!

This is the best school for my child.

He loves coming to school, knowing that makes me happy.

Just wanted to say "thank you" again for doing this incredibly difficult job to make my child, and other children as well feel happy and encouraged. My daughter always goes to school with a smile and she loves to study here.

I really appreciate all your efforts. It is not easy but all you do is brilliant.

We appreciate the passion and professional standard of the teachers that help our son.

From the responses received, below are the percentages:

1. 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child(ren) are happy at school.
2. 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed their child(ren) feel safe in school.
3.  98% of parents agreed or strongly agreed the school makes sure its pupils are well behaved. 2% did not know
4. 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that the school deals with bullying quickly and effectively or felt their child has not been bullied.
5. 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed the school makes parents aware what their child(ren) will learn in the academic year.
6. 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that the school deals with concerns properly or felt they had not raised any concerns.
7. 98% of parents agreed or strongly agreed the school supports their child with SEND to succeed or felt their child did not have SEND.
8. 96% of parents agreed or strongly agreed the school has high expectations of their child(ren). The other 4% made reference to the standards being appropriate to their child without excessive pressures.
9. 98% of parents agreed or strongly agreed their child(ren) does well at school. 2% did not know.
10. 96% of parents agreed or strongly agreed the school lets parents know how their child is doing.
11. 96% of parents agreed or strongly agreed there is a good range of subjects available. 4% did not know.
12. 94% of parents agreed or strongly agreed the school supports a child's wider personal development. 6% did not know.
13. 100% of parents agreed or strongly agreed they would recommend the school to another parent.

A meeting was held on Friday 27th September 2024 and the following questions had been put to the parents prior to the meeting to receive responses:

Is your child happy at school?

Would you recommend this school to others?

How do you know how your child is doing at school?

The following responses were received:

Year 5

 I had one feed back from a new parent who said their daughter is very happy, she is delighted with the clubs, all the initiatives such as the ambassador roles.

She said that she feels that the school is highly receptive to feed back and would recommend the school to anyone.

Year 1

 We did a poll on our Hummingbirds what’s app and have received the following responses:

Is your child happy at school? 100% answered yes (10 responses)

Do you feel if you have raised concerns, the school has dealt with them properly? 100% answered yes (10 responses)

Would you recommend this school to others? 

100% answered yes (12 responses)

How do you know how your child is doing at school?

We received the following responses:

‘I would say because I interact with my child‘s activities from school, communicate with her and her teachers to gain a level of understanding where she is academically and how I can support her if needed.

I read with her and do the maths tasks and from her recollections about school and what is being taught, I know she is listening :)’

‘I know what work X is doing by attending the meet the teacher and also the phonics workshop.’

This comment/query was also received:

I think the weekly newsletter needs to be in a simpler layout. Not so much writing. Sway doesn’t work for me so it’s not great. Would be best to be just an email with a calendar on it for the rest of that term, a section for awards given like star of the week, a note from the head teacher and any PTA events happening.

Year 4

How do you know how your child is doing at school? Parent consultation is really very useful to let us know our child's behaviour and learning at school. We chat at dinner about how the day is every day so we mostly catch up with what's happening on him at school.

Is your child happy at school? Yes! There are times when he's not happy with some children at break time or lesson time but he/they can sort it out, so it's all fine to me.

Would you recommend this school to others? Yes!

At the meeting, we discussed the outcomes and reflected on the weekly newsletter. Most parents agreed that Sway was a good way to read the news.

Parents at the meeting agreed to share other statements around the education at Margaret Wix Primary School with their groups and feedback will be shared at the next meeting (date to be agreed)

 A meeting was held on Friday 15th March 2024 with the new team.

The following questions were posed and the responses are below. 

Do parents feel involved in their child's learning journey at Margaret Wix? If so, how?

• Nurturing school that cares about their pupils and caters to their learning journey.
• Phenomenal teaching staff.
• Stability of staff – incredible team of people.
• I would definitely recommend – such a nice vibe!
• I feel very involved in my child’s journey at Margret Wix. I love tapestry when we first started I was surprised how often it was updated but it’s lovely idea. So nice to see what they have done each day. Especially if like my daughter she doesn’t tell me or says she can’t remember what she did that day. It’s nice we look through the photos together. Also love the share and learn days makes you feel very involved to be able to come and take part.
• being kept up to date about what they are learning on tapestry
• - invited in for the parent partnership events / lessons
• - speaking regularly about my child’s SEN needs and progress
• - work or ideas sent home to solidify learning due to SEN needs
• - ideas given by teachers to enhance child’s independence
• I feel involved in my daughter’s learning thanks to the information being shared through tapestry and the activities parents are encouraged to participate in. The letter at the beginning of the year outlining topics that will be covered really help.
• I would love to have Class Dojo for parent and teacher communication and for the teacher to share class photos of activities. I know we have this for children incentives, but reminders and coms be more effective this way.
• Yes I do with all the different learning weeks that parents get to attend  like maths week, reading week etc. The parent/carer consultations are great to understand what can be improved upon. Teachers are always willing to assist on a daily basis when a learning hurdle is experienced.
• We have the opportunity to review their work every half-term; weekly homework also encourage discussion between parents and children. 

What would they say to other parents about Margaret Wix if asked whether they would recommend it?

• I would definitely recommend Margaret Wix. It’s got such a nice vibe. You can see Mrs Gibbs has an amazing team and they are all on the same page. Your child here is definitely treated at as an individual and you can see how important the learning powers are to everyone. I feel it’s a very welcoming and nurturing school.
• Definitely.
• A nurturing school who really cares about their pupils and caters to their individual learning journey.
• I would definitely recommend the school as it has phenomenal teaching staff.
• I would recommend the school because of the passionate and energetic teachers that we feel the children are much cared. 
• Nurturing school that cares about their pupils and caters to their learning journey.
• Phenomenal teaching staff.
• Stability of staff – incredible team of people.
• I would definitely recommend – such a nice vibe!

What one change would they like to see, if possible?

•  I was going to say the pathway to referrals. However as soon as Mrs Ralph put my daughter on a list her end at the school the text to book an appointment came through overnight. Very impressed.
• I wouldn’t... I feel involved because of the celebration assemblies, the participation we have throughout the year with seeing their books and their learn and share morning. Also the interaction from the teachers is really good.
• I would probably say the newsletter to be accessible as an attachment in email rather than on sway. Would make it easier to read and more inviting for others to read too. 
• Also I would highly recommend the school, I would say it’s very welcoming and all the staff are so nurturing to the children it’s lovely to see.
• I would (and have ) recommended MW to other parents if their children would benefit from reasonable/ smaller class sizes. (Not all kids would) I also highlight that it’s all very personal at MW. Mrs Gibbs knowing each child by name is impressive, shows real interest and how engaged she is with the pupils. It made a huge difference in my first impression of the school how children really interact with Mrs Gibbs. She is present, approachable and really friendly to all.
• I can’t think of anything that I would suggest to change.
• I think they go over and above as it is so wouldn’t need or be fair to suggest one change.
•  Love the library!
• Can the children use Forest School more?
• Can we do the weekly mile? 
• More ECAs and clubs after school.

The areas for developmemt:

• access to the newsletter
• forest school - more use please
• weekly mile please
• it is a tall ask however would be good if teachers can highlight weak areas when they arise in the course of the week etc so should a parent feel they have the time they could revise the topic accordingly
• more after school clubs please! 

A meeting was held on Friday 13th October 2023 with the new team.

We began with the question, "What is it like to be a child at Margaret Wix Primary School?"

 The following comments were made:

•  very settled, safe and cared for
• good relationships and nurturing the children
• outstanding provision
• fun and my child's favourite place to be in the world
• challenged
• inclusive
• feel involved 
• enthusiasm
• like a family
• there is a warm feeling when you come through the door

We then discussed how we could improve the experience of going to Margaret Wix Primary School

 Outdoor providers to offer paid clubs - CG to explore

Collating the office emails so not so many different ones come in a day - CG to talk to the office

Newsletter - weekly updates on dates coming the next week - CG to include this on Sway

The next meeting is on 17th November and the forum are going to ask the parents in their class how they would like to know how they can help their children at home. 

A meeting was held on Friday 17th November 2023.

 Miss Abbott attended the meeting and explained about the rationale around our curriculum, The Wix Way. Parents were very impressed about that thought and careful planning behind the curriculum at the school. We then took responses on how we could work with parents and carers on helping their children at home. It was felt that the school did a great deal to encourage parents to be part of the school and we were reminded of Wondrous Writing that was taking place next week for Years 1-6. 

A discussion then took place around our new initiative Maths Magicians. As Miss Abbott is Maths Lead, she was able to help out with queries. She explained that she would be using her new Maths Ambassadors to create videos foe class pages to help parents assist their children at home. She also explained that the maths ambassadors would lead the Marvellous Maths week.

During the meeting, Mrs Gibbs signposted the attendees to our website and the subject pages explaining that there is a wealth of knowledge and help for parents on these pages. A follow up email was also sent asking the information from the meeting to be disseminated to all families. 

The next meeting will take place in the new year and the area of focus will be poverty proofing the school, ensuring enrichment opportunities for all.